engine OLDSMOBILE AURORA 1995 Service Manual

Towing a Trailer
NOTICE:
Pulling a trailer improperly can damage your
vehicle and result in costly repairs not covered by
your warranty.
To pull a trailer correctly, follow
the advice in this part, and see your Aurora
retailer for important information about towing
a trailer with your vehicle.
Your vehicle can tow a trailer. To identify what the
vehicle trailering capacity is for your vehicle,
you
should read the information in "Weight of the Trailer"
that appears later
in this section. But trailering is
different
than just driving your vehicle by itself.
Trailering means changes
in handling, durability, and
fuel economy. Successful, safe trailering takes correct
equipment, and
it has to be used properly.
That's the reason for this part.
In it are many
time-tested, important trailering tips and safety rules.
Many
of these are important for your safety and that of
your passengers. So please read this section carefully
before
you pull a trailer.
Load-pulling components such as the engine, transaxle,
wheel assemblies, and tires are forced to work harder
against the drag
of the added weight. The engine is
required to operate at relatively higher speeds and under
greater loads, generating extra heat. What's more, the
trailer adds considerably
to wind resistance, increasing
the pulling requirements.
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If You Do Decide To Pull A Trailer
If you do, here are some important points.
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There are many different laws, including speed limit
restrictions, having to do with trailering. M, cl k e sure
your rig
will be legal, not only where you live but
also where you’ll be driving.
A good source for this
information can be state or provincial police.
Consider using
a sway control. You can ask a hitch
retailer about sway controls.
Don’t tow a trailer at all during the first
1,000 miles
( I 600 km) your new vehicle is driven. Your engine,
axle or other parts could be damaged.
Then, during the first
500 miles (800 km) that you
tow a trailer, don’t drive over
50 mph (80 kdh) and
don’t make starts
at full throttle. This helps your
engine and other parts of your vehicle wear
in at the
heavier loads.
Obey speed
limit restrictions when towing a trailer.
Don’t drive fdster than the maximum posted speed
for trailers (or no more than
55 mph (90 km/h)) to
save wear on your vehicle‘s parts. Three
important considerations have to
do with weight:
Weight of the Trailer
How heavy can a trailer’ safely be?
It should never weigh more than 1,000 pounds (450 kg).
But even that can be too heavy.
It depends on how you plan to use your rig. For
example, speed, altitude. road grades, outside
temperature and how much your vehicle is used
to pull a
trailer are
all important. And, it can also depend on any
special equipment that you have
on your vehicle.
You can ask your retailer for
OLI~ trailering information
or advice, or you can write
LIS at:
Customer Assistance Representative
Oldsnlobile Central Office
920 Townsend Street
P.O.
Box 30095
Lansing, MI 48909
In Canada, write to:
General Motors of Canada Limited
Customer Assistance Center
I908 Colonel Sam Drive
Oshawa, Ontario
LIH 8P7.
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Parking on Hills
You really should not park your vehicle, with a trailer
attached,
on a hill. If something goes wrong, your rig
could start
to move. People can be injured, and both
your vehicle and
the trailer can be damaged.
But if you ever have to park your rig on a hill, here‘s
how to do it:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Apply your regular brakes, but don’t shift into
PARK (P) yet.
Have someone place chocks under the trailer wheels.
When the wheel chocks are in place, release the
regular brakes
until the chocks absorb the load.
Reapply the regular brakes. Then apply your parking
brake, and
then shift to PARK (P).
Release the regular brakes.
When You Are Ready to Leave After
Parking on a Hill
I. Apply your regular brakes and hold the pedal down
while you:
Start your engine:
Shift into a gear; and
Release the parking brake.
2. Let LIP on the brake pedal.
3. Drive slowly until the trailer is clear of the chocks.
4. Stop and have someone pick up and store the chocks.
Maintenance When Trailer Towing
Your vehicle will need service more often when you’re
pulling
a trailer. See the Maintenance Schedule for more
on this. Things that are especially important
in trailer
operation are automatic transaxle fluid (don’t overfill),
engine oil, belt, cooling system, and brake adjustment.
Each of these
is covered in this manual, and ;he Index will
help you find them quickly. If you’re trailering, it‘s a good
idea to review these sections before you stat your trip.
Check periodically
to see that all hitch nuts and bolts
are tight.
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4. Open the hoods and locate the other vehicle's battery
and the Aurora's remote positive
(+) junlp starting
terminal. Find
the positive
(+) and negative (-) terminals on
each battery or remote terminal.
Your Aurora's battery isn't under the hood,
but there
is
a remote positive (+)jump starting terminal there.
The terminal is
in the box on the passenger side of
the engine compartment.
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You should always use the remote positive (+)
terminal instead of the positive (+) terminal on your
battery.
To open the remote positive (+) terminal box, pull
the tab and open the cover.
5. Check that the jumper cables don’t have loose or
missing insulation.
If they do, you could get a shock.
The vehicles could be damaged, too.
Before you connect the cables, here are some things
you should know. Positive
(+) will go to positive (+)
and negative (-) will go to negative (-) or a metal
engine part. Don’t connect
(+) to (-) or you’ll get a
short that would damage the battery and maybe other
parts, too.
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6. Connect the red positive (+) cable to the remote
positive
(+) terminal of the vehicle with the dead
battery.
7. Don’t let the other end touch metal. Connect it to the
positive
(+) terminal of the good battery. Use a
remote positive (+) terminal if the vehicle has one.
8. Now connect the black negative (-) cable to the good
battery’s negative
(-) terminal.
Don’t let the other end touch anything
until the next
step. The other end
of the negative cable cloesn P go
to the dead battery. It goes to a heavy unpainted
metal part on the engine
of the vehicle with the dead
battery.
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9. Attach the cable at least 18 inches (45 cm) away
from the dead battery, but not near engine parts that
move. The electrical connection
is just as good there,
but the chance of sparks getting back to the battery
is
much less.
10. Now start the vehicle with the good battery and run
the engine for a while.
11. Try to start the vehicle with the dead battery. If it
won't start after a few tries, it probably needs
service.
GOOD BATTERY
DEAD BATTERY
12. Remove the cables in reverse order to prevent
electrical shorting. Tdke care that they don't touch
each other or any other metal.
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Engine Overheating
You will find a coolant temperature gage on your
Aurora’s instrunlent panel. Your information center
will
also display messages about engine overheating. See
“Coolant Temperature Gage“
in the Index.
Overheated Engine Protection Operating Mode
Should a low coolant condition exist and the message
HOT STOP ENGINE display, an overheat protection
mode which alternates firing groups of four cylinders
helps prevent engine damage. This operating mode
allows
YOLIP vehicle to be driven to a safe place in an
emergency; you may drive
up to 50 miles (80 km).
Towing a trailer in the overheat protection lnode should
be avoided.
NOTICE:
After driving in the “Overheated Engine
Protection Operating Mode,” to avoid engine
damage, allow the engine to cool before
attempting any repair. The engine oil may be
severely degraded. Change the oil and reset the
oil life indicator. See “Engine Oil, When to
Change” in the Index.
If Steam Is Coming From Your Engine
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NOTICE:
If your engine catches fire because you keep
driving with no coolant, your vehicle can be
badly damaged. The costly repairs would not be
covered
by your warranty. See “Overheated
Engine Protection Operating Mode” in the Index.
If No Steam Is Coming From Your Engine
If you get the overheat warning but see or hear no
steam, the problem may not be too serious. Sometimes
the engine can get a little too hot
when you:
Climb a long hill on a hot day.
Stop after high speed driving.
Idle for long periods in traffic.
Tow a trailer.
If you get the overheat warning with no sign of steam,
try this for a minute or so:
1. Turn off your air conditioner.
2. Turn on your heater to full hot at the highest fan
speed and open the window as necessary.
3. If you‘re in a traffic jam, shift to NEUTRAL (N);
otherwise, shift to the highest gear while driving --
AUTOMATIC OVERDRIVE (@) or THIRD (3).
If you no longer have the overheat warning, you can
drive. Just to be safe, drive slower for about
10 minutes.
If the warning doesn’t come back
on, you can drive
normally.
If the warning continues, pull over, stop, and park your
vehicle right away.
If there‘s still no sign
of steam, you can idle the engine
for two or three minutes while you’re parked, to see if
the warning stops. But then,
if you still have the
warning,
turf? ofthe engine and get everyone out qf the
vehicle until it cools down. Also, see “Overheated
Engine Protection Operating Mode” listed previously
in
this section.
You may decide not to lift the hood but to get service
help right away.
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Cooling System
If the coolant inside the coolant surge tank is boiling.
don’t do anything else
until it cools down.
When
you decide it’s safe to lift the hood, here’s what
you’ll see:
A. Coolant surge tank with pressure cap
B. Two electric engine fans
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